Ahead of the beginning of India – Australia four-match test series, a war of words between the players of both the team already started. In this series, former Australian batsman Mike Hussey came in support of pacer Mitchell Starc saying he will pose a serious challenge for Virat Kohli.

Once the most dependable batsman for Kangaroos Hussey stated that Starc with his abilities to bowl at a genuine pace and can swing the new ball and is an excellent exponent of reverse swing. “I am sure he will challenge Kohli throughout the series,” a veteran of 79 Test matches said.

Meanwhile, Hussey also known as ‘Mr Cricket’ for his consistency, he never underestimates Team India skipper for his performance against big teams.

“It will, however, take a collective effort to stop him, who has been phenomenal of late. He has experience of playing in India, which is important both in Tests and at the IPL. I feel he needs to show a lot of faith and patience with his spinners and get the field right, with a nice balance of attacking and defending,” he said.

Asked about the kind of challenges that Steve Smith will face, Hussey said that despite Indians being champion players of spin bowling, the Australian captain needs to be patient with spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe.

“He has experience of playing in India, which is important both in Tests and at the IPL. I feel he needs to show a lot of faith and patience with his spinners and get the field right, with a nice balance of attacking and defending,” Hussey said.

Hussey is happy with the kind of preparation that the Aussies have undertaken in Dubai but is keen to watch how much of it translates into performances.

“This tour of India has been a big focus for Cricket Australia for some time now and the preparation has been meticulous. Whether that transcends into performance on the field remains to be seen but the preparation has certainly been thorough,” he said.

Australia is only playing one warm-up game, a three-day match against India A in the build up to their first Test against the hosts starting February 23 in Pune.

“I would have perhaps like to have seen a few more warm-up matches in India to cap off the preparations.”